A story over the waves.

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2001)

A compelling and sympathetic bittersweet drama telling the story of a boy abandoned in a great transatlantic and raised by a worker of the the ship. The boy grows up and turns out to be a fantastic piano player but although his undisputed talent he never get off from the ship, living his entire life inside the ship. A interesting and very original premise that Tornatore, a sensible director with a special touch in telling stories about love, friendship, solitude and hope (see Cinema Paradiso, for instance, develops in almost flawless pace. To say the truth, there's some problems along the way; some scenes are a bit too long, like the duel between 1900 and Jelly Morton and Roth gives a cold and undeveloped performance in the lead role. Otherwise, the movie is a original view over some primal questions like the meaning of life, the substance of the being and the destiny of a man in a world too much complicated and unfriendly, but never in a Bergman amplitude. I give this a 6 (six).